


crossroads

by starrdustdreaming



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (todd's dead!! :D), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Character Death, alternate title: hank and con adopt alice the fic, it seems bad but it's got happy moments, it's discussed but not explicitly shown, the events of the game are stretched out a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-07-11 23:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15982427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrdustdreaming/pseuds/starrdustdreaming
Summary: The slowly increasing deviant problem. A revolution that grows every day. Connor's mission.A missing AX400. A YK500 that speaks too soft and tooscaredand a Lieutenant that hides too much and leaves Connor with one too many instabilities in his software.A heavy weight on his shoulders, and suddenly Connor's mission isn't so simple anymore.DISCONTINUED, PLEASE READ MOST RECENT CHAPTER FOR EXPLANATION





	1. crossroads

They’d been close.

Curses and muffled threats had been scratched out with punches and kicks and hurried footsteps across the hall. Out the door, to the cold night air that falls numb on her skin. That leaves the tiny hand in hers shaking, a meek voice asking _are we gonna be okay, is he gonna hurt us again, where are we gonna go?_

And they pause, then, after clambering over the fence. Hand still shaking.

Truthfully, she doesn’t know, can’t see anything past the few feet in front of her and something _safe._ Something just out of reach, barely skimming her fingertips and if she could _just-_

Footsteps. Thundering down, down, down, leaving an icy dread crawling beneath her skin. Bursting up and over, freezing her in place until all she can do is look back in horror. Hand still shaking. Still there.

But it’s getting closer and neither of them know what to do. The bus that drives past is an afterthought, the light hum a backdrop to the flurry of slurred screams, fists slamming against walls, footsteps closer and _closer_ and-

Her world spins once, twice.

No more hand in hers. A faint scream, blurred and static.

And everything goes black.

* * *

When they arrive at the crime scene, Connor has three things in mind: a missing AX400, a dead human, and the music that’s been blaring in Lieutenant Anderson’s car for the past half hour.

The music- all from Knights of the Black Death’s comeback album, released seven months and two weeks ago- has been playing on a loop, accompanied by the Lieutenant’s light humming and occasional singing. Connor simply leans back and listens, sorting the music into it’s own files, taking in the man’s reactions. A light sort of electricity is thrumming along under his skin, dancing along his wires and leaving him feeling… odd.

He makes a mental note to run some diagnostics later, and tries his best to will away whatever _that_ had been.

Connor reaches over and turns off the radio as the car stutters to a stop, ignoring the glare that Hank sends his way. _Don’t touch my shit,_ he’d growled out earlier, before tossing the old takeout box Connor had been holding into the already-cluttered backseat.

He returns the Lieutenant’s look with a slightly raised eyebrow- watching as his expression shifts into something angrier than his perpetual, mildly pissed frown- then glances away again when the odd sort of static returns. _Software instability._

Frowning a little as he watches Lieutenant Anderon’s slowly retreating form, Connor waves away the notice into the slightly cluttered corner of his vision where it won’t bother him and shuts the car door behind him. Keeps a respectable distance behind his partner, though still not far enough for the grumbles about _‘fuckin’ androids’_ and their supposed lack of bounderies to go unheard. Though considering Connor could easily adjust his hearing to listen at distances far beyond a human’s capabilities, he’s not sure how much weight that statement holds.

He’s also not sure he should be reading into an idle thought this much.

Connor shakes his head and enters the house. A neighbour had called complaining about the noise, and the officer that went to investigate had been greeted by a man- Todd Williams, born 21st September 1995, divorced, and has a child he’d lost custody of four years ago- curled up, motionless and bloodied, at the bottom of the stairs. Thirium staining his hands and clothes, Connor notes, as he looks down at the body he’d almost stumbled into.

When he relays this information to Lieutenant Anderson, he lets out a huff. “Must’ve been his android. Got in a fight, pushed him down the stairs and ran.”

“The AX400 was still there when the officer arrived to investigate,” Connor reminds him, kneeling down to gather up some of the Thirium on Todd Williams’ hands. He doesn’t quite know why the action feels so… _repulsive,_ for lack of a better word. Regardless, the blood is a match to the android Todd had reportedly owned; an AX400, serial #579 102 694, name registered as Kara. “By the time the officer returned outside, it had disappeared. It wouldn’t make sense for it to wait so long to flee, especially if it was deviant and already in a distressed state.”

Lieutenant Anderson shrugs, cringing a little when he spots Connor analysing the evidence. “Then what do _you_ think happened?”

“I’ll reconstruct the most likely scenario as soon as we have sufficient evidence.” Connor answers automatically, barely glancing back at the other. There aren’t any fingerprints on the man, as he’d expected, but… the AX400 being the killer is fairly unrealistic. The fact that it had fled the scene had been suspicious, sure, but there’s the question of how it got outside- especially in it’s half-broken state- in the first place.

Maybe there had been an accomplice. But even then there are no traces of footsteps apart from the AX400 itself and all the officers that have been on the scene since. So-

There’s a 73% probability that there is someone else in the house, and that’s enough for Connor to step over Todd Williams’ body and start up the stairs.

“Connor!” Lieutenant Anderson calls up after him, grimacing as he steps over the body to follow. “The hell are you going?”

“There may be somebody else in the house.” Connor replies coolly, opening a door and checking inside. Noone’s there. “It would be best if you stayed behind me, Lieutenant.”

“I’m the one with the gun.” Hank grumbles, but stays behind Connor anyway.

They remain in silence as Connor searches, only glancing back every once in a while to make sure Lieutenant Anderson is still there. Connor isn’t particularly sure why that fact makes him feel.. _reassured_ (again, for lack of a better word,) but if it helps his mission then he won’t question it.

(Or maybe he will. Later, though.)

Connor pauses toward the end of the hall, at a door that’s been scribbled on with crayon. Presumably where Todd’s daughter resided before she’d left with her mother; he knows that humans usually preserve things like these- reminders of what things had been like _before-_ as a part of grieving. As if it would bring back what they’d already lost.

Except the crayon looks like it’s hardly faded. A quick scan estimates a month ago at least.

Connor’s eyes flick up, scanning the room, and-

Something unbearable and _cold_ floods over him, at the exact same time he registers a tiny form, lying unmoving on the bed.

* * *

Hank shoves past Connor as soon as he notices, his world suddenly moving _too slow too slow._

There’s a child. A child motionless and curled up and _dead,_ staring up at the ceiling with lifeless eyes. And suddenly it’s three years ago and raining, voices screaming about doctors and surgeries and everything’s _too slow-_

And Hank barely realises he’s fallen to his knees, gaze fixed on the body, the way the little girl’s fingers are still slightly curled as if reaching for something. Doesn’t hear the quiet _‘fuck,’_ that chokes itself out, or the footsteps that bounce off the walls. Not until Connor speaks again, voice wavering just slightly.

“It’s an android.” Connor says, as if it’s that simple. “YK500.”

“Shut up.” Hank forces out, vision blurring slightly. Because even though it’s an android it hardly looks like it, in the way that her expression still seems frozen in a scream, the way her limp arms are still wrapped around a soft toy. The way the bruises on her face, beneath her rolled-up sleeves, look so _real._

“There are traces of the YK500’s own Thirium on it’s clothes, as well as Todd Williams’ fingerprints.” Connor states, standing up and scanning the room once more. “It is possible that the YK500 was retaliating against an attack, though that doesn’t explain the AX400 having escaped. We should attempt to re-activate it and find out what it saw.”

It. It. _It._ Suddenly, Hank hates the word. But Connor doesn’t know that, hardly thinks to _feel_ anything as he picks up the little girl and scans her. “It suffered several injuries, especially to it’s arms and legs, which may have cut off the flow of Thirium in parts of it’s body. Androids will deactivate if this happens until they’re repaired…” he trails off, LED flashing yellow. “If we can get the android to ingest Thirium, there is a high probability that it will reactivate, most likely temporarily. If we need more information then we can get it repaired by a technician.”

“Right,” Hank mumbles, finally finding it in him to stand up. His gaze returns back to the child- she looks so tiny, in Connor’s arms. “Should we- call someone up, or..?”

“No.” Connor replies. He holds the child up with one arm while he digs around in his pockets, before pulling out a clear bottle filled with blue liquid. _Thirium._ “Can you hold it?” it takes Hank a few moments to realise he’s talking about the girl.

Another few moments to get over the slight tremor in his hands, taking the child from Connor’s arms. She’s heavier than expected (definitely enough to manage shoving someone down the stairs, Hank notes,) but Hank still carries her like she’s fragile.

“If the YK500 is deviant like we suspect, it may try to escape when we reactivate it.” Connor warns, shaking up the bottle of Thirium. “And even if it’s deviant, it will still have the mindset of a child. It would be best if we treat it as such.”

Hank nods, shifting the girl in his arms a little and tightening his grip slightly. Connor pops open the bottle, then just… tips it down the girl’s throat. Hank opens his mouth to tell him to be more careful, but before he can say anything an arm flies out and almost hits him in the face.

 _“-hurts!”_ the girl cries out, voice strained, and Hank swears he can feel his heart break.

But with that, something he hasn’t felt in six years comes rushing back; a kind of protectiveness, scratching at the back of his mind and making him hold the girl just a little closer.

“Hey, hey. We’re not gonna hurt you.” Hank says softly, lowering himself down to the ground. Connor follows, in one unnaturally smooth motion. “I’m Lieutenant Anderson and that’s Connor, my partner. We need to ask you some questions so we can make sure you’re safe.” her expression relaxes just slightly, though she still looks pained. “Is that okay?”

“Y-yeah..” she mumbles, eyes darting around nervously. She’s clinging to Hank’s shirt, slowly bringing her knees to her chest as if she could make herself seem any smaller. But she suddenly snaps up, glancing around more frantically. Searching for something. “Kara- is she okay? My dad, he…” she trails off. Hiding something.

“We only have four minutes.” Connor murmurs, busying himself by searching the room. Hank takes a shaky breath, nodding and giving the girl a few moments (that he knows they won’t be getting back) to calm down.

“Can you tell us your name?” Hank asks, gentle. There aren’t any records that imply Todd Williams even owned this android, and he really doesn’t want to look further into what that means.

“Alice.” she replies. Her voice is slightly croaky- just barely above a whisper- and Hank hates that he has to wonder if it’s _real._

“Okay, Alice.” Hank smiles at her, hoping it helps calm her down. He doesn’t want another situation like the interrogation earlier. “Do you remember what happened before..” he chooses his words carefully. “..we found you? Or what happened to your dad?”

“Kara- Kara helped me escape. She helped me.” Alice repeats again, then looks up at Hank with watery eyes. “Will she be okay? Please don’t hurt her, she- she _helped_ me.” Connor turns around from where he’s searching through a set of drawers, muttering about her stress levels rising.

“We won’t hurt her. If you tell us what happened we’ll make sure you two are safe, okay?” it’s a partial lie, because for all they know the AX400 could’ve been picked off the street and taken off to god knows where, but Hank knows telling Alice that certainly wouldn’t do any good.

Alice relaxes, though, grip on Hank’s shirt loosening slightly, and lets herself fall back into the embrace a little more.

“He was gonna hurt me. My- my dad-” she looks to the side. Hesitant. “If I tell you what I did- you won’t protect us anymore.”

“No, no. We will. I promise.” Hank lies, again. He knows that the YK500 will definitely be destroyed now that she’s deviant, and the AX400 will undoubtedly meet a similar fate if she’s found. But he doesn’t want to know what would happen if he told the truth, if he let her suffer the same way that other android did.

(Some part of him is screaming out that androids _can’t_ suffer. They don’t _feel anything._ Hank doesn’t have the heart to listen to it right now.)

“O-okay.” Alice nods. Hank glances back over at Connor, questioning, and he mouths that they have three minutes left. Shit. “I- I made him angry. I ran away because I was scared he’d hurt me, and- and Kara came to my room and said she would protect me.” her eyes light up just slightly at that, though she still looks so _scared._ “When he came in he tried to get me, but- Kara wouldn’t let him.”

Alice pauses again, frowning. “I- I tried to get him to stop.” her voice chokes up a little- Hank didn’t even know that was possible. “He would’ve killed her but she- protected herself. Protected _me.”_

When Hank turns to check what Connor’s doing again, he sees an odd expression cross his face for just a few moments. He’s holding a piece of paper, and Hank almost turns to see, but Alice shifts, shaking a little as she does, and continues. “She got us both out. She carried me, for a bit, but I was too heavy so she let me go. But-”

Alice cuts herself off and winces. “My dad- he was angrier than he’s ever been at _me.”_ and Hank hates that, the way her voice drops off into a barely-disguised sob. Hates that someone would put a child- even an imitation of one- through all that. Hates Todd Williams, despite never knowing him. Hates this whole situation, but he won’t let that show for Alice’s sake. So he nods encouragingly, anxiously glancing back at a now-distracted Connor.

“What did he do, after that?” he asks, but Alice stays quiet. For the first time, Hank notes the lack of LED on her head or band on her arm. No sign that she’s an android, so close to human that it almost hurts.

Todd Williams must have tried hard, to bring back the daughter he’d lost. Unfortunately, he’s dead at the bottom of the stairs and Hank can’t really bring himself to care. Because he knows grief, he knows the feeling of being broken down by _what ifs_ and _maybes,_ has lost too much to hours spent waiting for this to pass, hours spent drinking and grieving with the cold bite of a gun at his head and the picture that still sits on the table. Knows the feeling of wishing he could bring it back, that he’d give anything for just a memory of his boy, even now.

Hank knows grief. And he knows that fucking up someone _(Someone. Someone._ Someone.) else in the process isn’t excusable because of it.

Somehow, that calms him, knowing that he and Todd Williams truly are nothing alike. And yet. There’s still something at the back of his mind, buried amongst the _what ifs_ and _maybes_ and all the thrown-away prayers to gods that aren’t out there. _That could have been me._

But the thought is cut into by a _shriek,_ Alice choking out unintelligible sobs. _Hurts. It Hurts._

Connor seems only slightly more rushed as usual as he comes back over, meeting Hank’s gaze with an odd glint in his eyes.

“It’s shutting down again.” he says. “We’ll have to get it repaired properly when we’re done here.”

“No, _no.”_ Alice cries, all garbled static and scratchy half-noises. “I don’t _want-_ it hurts- _hurts-!”_

Hank turns away, motioning for Connor to take her. He doesn’t think he can look back, doesn’t want to see the way pain keeps flooding over her expression in unrelenting waves, the unnatural twitch of her limbs as she struggles to get anywhere but here. _Hurts. Please stop. It_ hurts.

But Connor takes her back without question, murmuring something that Hank can’t hear and doesn’t _want_ to. Because still Alice won’t stop screaming, begging for it to stop because _it hurts it hurts it hurts_ until finally she stops, voice dying out on another strained cry.

“Fuck.” Hank breathes out.

Connor stands silent beside him, still carrying Alice in his arms.

* * *

The Lieutenant is quiet on the way back from the crime scene. He doesn’t even start playing his music, though the way he keeps nervously glancing back at the old radio implies that he wants to.

He’s been acting odd since they discovered the YK500; movements more hesitant. Softer spoken in the few words they’d exchanged, putting the android into the backseat of the Lieutenant’s car gently. Connor sees no reason for it; the YK500 cannot feel discomfort, can only emulate it to the best of it’s programs ability. And even if it could, the machine is still deactivated. It won’t have any memories of this, only blank space.

And yet Lieutenant Anderson is still quiet. For some reason, it makes something _odd_ flare up in Connor’s mind (or the biocomponents and wires that makes it up,) something that leaves him feeling.. on edge, almost.

“Todd Williams was never recorded to be owning a YK500.” he comments, if only to fill in the silence. “He must have gotten it illegally, so that may be something of interest to the investigation.”

Hank glares forward at the road, hands clenching the steering wheel tightly. He’s upset, for some reason.

“Yeah, I guessed.” he hisses out. “Sick piece of shit. Who knows what he did to that poor thing.”

“The YK500 cannot truly feel any pain inflicted on it. It’s sensors are slightly more sensitive than the average android’s to simulate the feelings of a child perfectly, but any emotions it may appear to feel are simply artificial.” he states matter-of-factly, taking out his coin and flipping it idly between his hands.

“To you.” Lieutenant Anderson huffs. A pained expression crosses his face just briefly. “Todd Williams treated her like shit. Must’ve been convincing enough for him to hit her as much as he liked and get something out of it.”

Connor would point out the use of the word ‘her’ (the YK500 cannot feel. It is a machine. It isn’t a he or she or they or _anything.)_ but instead goes back to the scene earlier. The bruises on it’s arms. He frowns.

“YK500 models aren’t built with the capability to replicate results of bodily harm such as bruises. This would be yet another possibly illegal adjustment made to the android.” he’s really only saying this for the Lieutenant’s benefit, since he’s been filing these notes away before they even make it to the human’s ears. He’s considering withholding the information now, though, because with each fact Connor continues to add the more agitated Lieutenant Anderson appears.

“What, so this sack of shit buys a kid android illegally, just to abuse it?”

It. She. Lieutenant Anderson’s use of the words are fairly inconsistent. A result of his anger, most likely; Connor has concluded so far that Lieutenant Anderson is protective of children. He may have a child of his own, though several of the officers at the precinct have children as well. Connor makes a note to ask him about it sometime.

“Perhaps.” Connor answers vaguely. Truly, he doesn’t know too much about Todd Williams’ life. They’d found Red Ice upon investigating the house further, which had just made Lieutenant Anderson’s mood worse. Todd Williams has no custody over his daughter due to an ‘unstable home’ (in Todd’s ex wife’s own words) and several past drug problems. And instead of trying to help himself, he’d purchased a replacement that wouldn’t fight back if he hit it. Overall, he seems- and objectively _is-_ like a pathetic man. But what matters right now is that he is dead, and he has to find the murderer.

He looks back at the YK500, still deactivated and lying in the back seat, and something heavy settles upon his shoulders. But when he looks around, there’s nothing.

Nothing except for the silence, Lieutenant Anderson’s tense expression as he drives.

None of them say a word, the rest of the way back.

* * *

Connor doesn’t leave the precinct with Lieutenant Anderson. He has no reason to sleep; only needs to enter stasis for a few hours to run his diagnostics and contact CyberLife with any updates, and even if he required sleep he would have nowhere except the station to do so. So, he stays, standing next to the table where the YK500 is being worked on by a technician who glances up at Connor uneasily every once in a while.

He doesn’t pay particularly much attention to what’s going on, since he has no reason too; he has more than enough knowledge about all different androids and how they function stored in his database. So, as Connor’s internal clock finally displays 4:30AM and the technician is approaching her seventh coffee, he allows himself to slip into stasis-

And is woken up not even two hours later by a shocked gasp.

“It’s already awake?!” the technician steps back warily, then looks back to where Connor is staring once more. “Sorry, look after the YK500. I gotta go do something.” she rushes off without another word, carrying what must be her eighth coffee in her hand and almost spilling it in the process.

The YK500’s eyes are open, darting around like they had been when it was reactivated at Todd Williams’ home. When it’s gaze finally lands on Connor, it seems to relax just slightly- currently, Connor’s systems are still properly stabilizing after suddenly being ripped out of stasis, so he makes a note to analyse the YK500’s stress levels later.

“Connor-” it says, voice slightly staticy. “-you’re Connor.”

“I am.” Connor replies, staring back down at it. It looks away again. “You’ve been reactivated to hopefully give us more information about Todd Williams, your former owner.”

Connor gets to see the YK500’s stress levels spike up from 20% to 67% before it stutters out an answer in the form of a choked-out noise. Connor tries to soften his expression, loosen his stiff pose a little. Try to look at least somewhat friendly. The YK500’s stress levels go down by just 1%.

“I don’t wanna.” it says.

Androids don’t want. They _can’t_ want.

Of course, Connor doesn’t say this to the YK500. It’s just been reactivated and it is most likely a deviant; it’s going to have some.. issues, to say the least. So he smiles at it in a way he hopes is calming.

It’s stress levels go up by 5%.

“If you tell us what happened, then we can help your.. friend. The AX400?” Connor tries a different approach and it works, judging by the fact that the YK500 perks up with a wide-eyed look.

“Kara. Her name is Kara.” the YK500 answers, and then adds- almost as an afterthought- “And. My name is Alice.”

“Alright, Alice.” Connor nods; admittedly, learning Alice’s name had not been a priority. At the crime scene, Connor had been observing several pieces of evidence suggesting Alice having a… troubled home situation.

YK500s are built to replicate children’s emotions almost too perfectly- even the negative ones.

That heavy pressure settles onto Connor’s shoulders again.

“In your room,” he begins, and Alice looks up from the blankets covering it’s small form. “You had several drawings. They seemed to depict rather.. gruesome scenarios.” he stops talking when Alice shifts, nervously, and continues when it simply remains silent. “Including violence toward you and the AX400- Kara. Can you explain why you drew those?”

It hesitates, again. “We’re not trying to hurt you, Alice.” Connor reassures, remembering Lieutenant Anderson’s words from earlier. “We just want to make sure you and Kara can get help.”

A few more moments of silence before Alice speaks, it’s voice soft and still crackling slightly.

“He killed her and he hurt me.” it murmurs, quiet. Androids aren’t alive. They can’t die. They can’t be killed.

_Software instability._

“He- he hit her and he never stopped. He complained about how much it cost to replace her every time, but he still did it anyway.” possible motives, for both of the two; Kara being motivated by artificial anger, Alice forming an unnatural attachment to the AX400. “He used to make me leave the room, but he just. Stopped caring eventually.” it meets Connor’s gaze. The weight grows heavier. “A year ago he killed her. She got in the way of the TV and he started screaming and hitting her and throwing things-” Alice draws it’s legs to it’s chest. “I didn’t- I didn’t _want_ her to get hurt- I couldn’t let her-”

Want. Want. Want.

“But he didn’t stop and he kept hitting and kicking me and it _hurt.”_ They can’t _hurt._ They aren’t alive. _They aren’t alive._ “I almost died. But Kara- she got in his way.”

It’s silent, for a few long moments. Alice’s stress levels sit at 56%.

“It was my fault.” Alice says, final, and suddenly the weight on Connor’s shoulders seems to be crushing him.

_Software instability._

_Software instability._

_Software instabili-_

The door to the room opens, and Lieutenant Anderson walks in. His expression is grim.

“Come on. We gotta interrogate the kid.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiiiii!! this is my first go at a multichapter in FOREVER and im so nervous to finally post it but here it is!! i hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> my tumblr is starrdustdreaming and my twitter is chopinseimei if u ever want to yell at me uwuwuwu
> 
> (ps: thanks lu @17batteries u absolute queen for supporting me while i made up this awful idea and being an icon in general xoxo)


	2. NOT A CHAPTER

sorry guys, for now this story isn't coming back. sorry if anyone's disappointed but it's just that this fic didn't get the reception i was really hoping for, and call me selfish but it's a bit demotivating when you know barely anyone is actively following your fic.

 

hope you enjoyed what little i wrote, though. <3


End file.
